Without Her
by goldenryo
Summary: Annabeth was dead. It was as simple as that. Without her, Percy was emotionless. He couldn't even comprehend it was his mortal friends he had encountered with his cousins.
1. Chapter 1

Without Her: Chapter One

It was surreal. To be recovering from the battle without _her_ by his side. When he saw _her_ fall, his mind couldn't even process it. But when he did, he was so heartbroken and angry that the Earth split, all their foes falling into the fault to Tartarus. Gaea was forced back to sleep from the splitting headache it caused her.

After that, he was practically dead to the world. Life without _her_ wasn't even life at all. He barely ate and only when ordered to. It was like he had become a robot. He only ever spoke with everyone called a 'dead voice.' Even then it was no more than a monotone answer to a direct question.

So they did the only thing they could think to do. They sent him home. His mother was happy enough to see him. However, she was nervous. She didn't know how to deal with this person her son had turned into. Paul was even more at a loss. But he was determined to help because Percy meant a lot to his wife.

Percy spent a few weeks at home, showing no emotion before his mother had him start school before he got too far behind. Missing nearly an entire year probably wouldn't have helped his IQ. Luckily _she_ had thought of that and in their free time on the Argo Two, before _she_ died, had given him private tutoring and taught him more than needed to catch up.( Of course, then she said that it was what everyone was learning. The sneak.)_ She'd_ even given him this cool scanner invention that translated English to Ancient Greek and vice versa.

He had forgotten his mortal friends though. They seemed so insignificant now. They and the rest of the rest of the school were immensely confused when Percy arrived back at school with two people on either side of him

On one side was a girl with black hair wearing black and turquoise make-up and highlights in her dark hair. She wore black clothing including her skinny jeans that had chins in the pockets. Black combat foots and an icy blue stare completed the don't-mess-with-me-effect.

His other side was occupied by a pale, stereotypical Goth boy. All his attire was black; right down to his jeans to an array of leather bands and chains on his wrists. Raven-black hair nearly obstructed the boy's haunted obsidian eyes that appeared haunted, as if they could see into your very soul.

Percy himself was wearing a simple black shirt with dark skinny jeans. His hair was unkempt as ever, but still attained a handsome quality that had the girls swooning. His eyes, on the other hand , were dull, missing their usual glint of life and spirit. As the trio walked by, there were many stares and pondering faces. '_What happened to Percy Jackson?' _was on everyone's minds. After all, he had been gone for nearly an entire year and they wanted answers.

Classes were a blur. Everyone was of course bewildered by his apparent increased in intelligence. His shadows also seemed to be smart. Throughout the classes, not one of the three had spoken anything but answers to deliberate questions except to each other. At least the girl and boy did. Percy just sat there quietly, spacing out often. The teachers decided they would ask Paul about it during lunch. Of course, if he wouldn't talk, then they could always gossip among themselves and come up with some crazy explanation.

The two people next to him never left his side. The three of them looked like they might be related. Dark hair, Grecian tinged features, same accent-as though they weren't used to speaking English. From what they could figure, they had known Percy for a long time. However, no one knew their names yet. It turned out that their names weren't on the roster.

Then suddenly, it was lunch. Everyone was too nervous to approach the intimidating trio. Except Percy's old friends that is. His four friends Ally, Ben, Neal, and Alice all cautiously walked up to the table together. The girl on Percy's right spoke first and everyone in the cafeteria turned to hear what she would say. "How might we be of assistance to you?" She was obviously deliberately speaking deliberately to Ally and Alice.

Ignoring this, Neal answered instead. "We want to talk to Percy."

Immediately, both the girl and boy stiffened. "She was speaking to the young ladies. Not you." The boy replied testily. The girl turned her icy stare to him and sneered. "Besides, Percy won't talk to you. I doubt he even remembers who you are." Though a scarce amount of people actually heard it, there was an underlying sadness in her words. It was almost as if the same had happened to others she knew.

Just them, Mr. Blofis came up. No one had seen him walk over to them since they had their full attention on the strange group and their conversation. "Here's his meds. If you need the sedative, just come get me, I'll be in my office." He placed a few containers of yellow pill bottles on the lunch table. With a nod, he walked away to his own lunch, oblivious to the water he had poured on the grapevine. _What had happened that _the_ Percy Jackson needed _medicine_ and _sedatives_?_

"What was that about?" Ben asked foolishly, unaware of the verbal beating he was about to receive. The air seemed to crackle and shadows appeared to creep further.

"Did you just speak without permission _male_?" The girl asked dangerously. "If you did I would suggest you apologize because otherwise I don't care if you were Percy's friend. Even _Octavion_ wouldn't dare show that amount of disrespect.

Ben had no idea who this Octavion was. Instead of apologizing, he said something else. And that something else revealed a whole other side of Percy had never seen before. "Sorry! I didn't know you were a feminist!" He said with sarcastic hastiness. Of course, he had respect for females. His own mother was in the military and was a force to be reckoned with. However, he did believe males and females alike were equals. Not like this girl who seemed to believe men were dirt beneath her feet.

Unfortunately, even though they used to be friends, Percy did not appreciate his cousin addressed in that manner. He seemed to come out of his stupor. The audience blinked and by the time they opened their eyes, Percy had a hand around Ben's neck, his dead eyes glaring."Do not _ever_ disrespect my cousin again." He tightened his grip on Ben's throat, starting to make it hard for him to breathe.

Thalia sensed danger. Percy wasn't the same since he had lost Annabeth. For all she knew, he actually _would_ kill the boy. Furthermore, she had a feeling that the boy used to be a good friend of Percy. The Hunter looked pointedly at Nico, and then tipped her head at Percy.

Luckily, he got the message. "Percy, bro, I'm sure the dude was just kiddin', _right Ben_?" Nico laughed nervously. He knew what Percy was like when he was angry; especially if it was because his family and friends had been hurt. Although, now that he had thought about it, Ben seemed to be a friend of Percy's…agh! stupid ADHD!

While Nico's thoughts had gone off track, Percy loosened his grip on Ben slightly, so he could confirm his cousin's words. "Yeah, man. Just kidding. That's right. Always need a bit of humor in your life right?" Ben gulped nervously. His mind still reeled from having his best friend since freshman year have a hand around his throat. _What the hell had happened to him?!_

Percy's eyes narrowed. Ben shuddered. It seemed as if the pair of them were in limbo, each waiting for the other. Finally, Percy released his hold on Ben, leaving him to kneel over, gasping for breath. When he looked up, Percy was already seated, staring off into an unknown distance.


	2. Chapter 2

**Important AN: **I made a bunch of changes to the first chapter, so you might want to reread it. They aren't any plot changing ones, so if you don't, then don't worry. Be Happy.

Without Her: Chapter Two

After the incident in the cafeteria, Percy's friends had solemnly walked back to their table after telling the protective cousins that they would 'see them around.' Since then, the people in the hallways parted for the strange trio- or rather, parted to get away from them.

In The Teacher's Lounge:

Dr. Tomas POV

I, Dr. Tomas, have always been an inquisitive person. In fact, I spent a good five years as a reporter for the Town Talk, a local newspaper. Now, I taught 11th and 12th grade English along with running the school newspaper as an afterschool elective.

It was this reason that I found Paul Blofis such an intriguing being. The man used to be such a sensible fellow and now he was married to a woman with a 17 year old troubled son. He had even fought with the superintendent to get the kid into Goode. What I found even stranger was when Percy didn't come back after Winter Break. Paul just said that he would be home soon. He told us that for 6 months.

Summer came and went and Percy still wasn't in school. We teachers asked him about it and he said that Percy was home, but he had been having a hard time. Come to think of it, Paul never said _what_ exactly he was having a hard time with.

When the bell rang for lunch, I started to make my way in to the Teacher's Lounge. I was the second to last person there. Even though my class is the farthest, Paul is known for staying a bit later to talk to a student or help them if they need any. Maria Gonzales, Frank Hall, Misty Tate, Rachel Rodriguez, and Justin Montalvo were already there. We were the only teachers who regularly ate in the Lounge.

A quick glance at everyone's posture and I knew who they were waiting for. Heck, I was waiting for him. We all were practically on our toes watching the door he would come through. I knew he was probably putting this off as long as he could. When he did walk through the door, he looked tired, but we attacked him with questions. It was like kids after someone carrying candy.

He gave a wan smile and held his hands up to demonstrate his surrender. "I have a feeling about what you are going to ask. I'm not exactly the best person to explain this though. If you all you find the time to come over to my apartment this afternoon, my wife and Percy's cousins might tell you though."

I closed my mouth with a clack and saw the others do the same. Nodding, I said, "Then let's eat." The rest of our lunch break proceeded as normal. It wasn't until after that we heard the whispers in the hall on what had occurred in the cafeteria.

Rachel Rodriguez POV

It was the last period of the day. Normally I would be relieved that at last the school day was over, but not today. Not only would this be the first time I had 'Terrifying Trio'-as they had been dubbed after the spectacle in the cafeteria-in my class, but I would also be going over to the Blofis' to hear the whole story. Both situations were a mix of excitement and terror. Only, they weren't as cool as rollercoasters.

The class settled down after a minute or two of gossiping about only-God-knows-what. I noticed the Trio had found themselves seats in the back corner. My eye on them the entire time, I attempted to teach my lesson as normal. The girl looked bored out of her mind and kept sneaking looks at the other boy. He seemed to be a bit young to be in this class. In fact, he looked to be thirteen- and a skinny one at that.

However, I didn't mention it, sure that my questions would be answered soon enough. The last bell of the day rang, signaling the end of one terror, and the beginning of the next.

AN: There ya go, this story is officially off hiatus. I'll just have to work on three stories all at once. Not that anyone even reads Quietly Abused though. Oh well. Time for acknowledgements!

Annabeth Brady: Half way there. I have already started the next chapter. Better start that story! ;-)

Talia-Elizabeth: Thank you for bringing that up. I will show that later on in the story. Right now she is trying to be strong and supportive for her cousin.

Princess Of Flames: I hope I updated soon enough for you. If not, I will try harder next time.


End file.
